Getting off the LED bandwagon - am I jumping alone?

[Penryn Ron]

I have to admit that I have come full circle on LED lights. I have a great collection of incans (Surefire M3, M4, M6, Dominator 10 X, Falcata) but became obsessed with LEDs over the past two years. The long run times and indestructibility, not to mention the "wow factor," enticed me. Consequently, I laid down hard-earned mula for a Gladius (still my favorite LED), U2 and L5.

Believe me, I really want to love the LEDs, if only to validate my decision to spend silly amounts of money on more lights. However, I am tiring of the washed out, sterile quality of the beams. For outside use, the lights make everything look flat. Critters that roam our property look dull in comparison to how they appear when I hit them with any of my incans. Depth of field and contrast suffers.

What about the chance that a bulb with fail at a critical moment, you might ask? I have used my Dominator 10 x for at least 40 hours with no replacement needed. My M3 has been dropped repeatedly and, even though I have tried, I just can't damage it.

Oh well, I am mustering the courage to leap off the LED bandwagon and head back home. Incans, I never should have left ya.

 

[redledz]

I don't think you have to leave or get on any bandwagon. Different tools for different situations right? Maybe it's just time to explore some hotwire mods

 

[Matt Sutton]

I just finished building my first ROP 4D/6 sub-C. It is crazy stupid bright, and makes my brightest LED lights look insignificant. One of my coworkers discovered that it will melt plastic at close range.
No Cree or Seoul is ever going to have that kind of output, but the ROP isn't very pocket worthy either. I have a new appreciation for incans, but I won't be trading off my LED lights just yet.

 

[Wolfhound 9K]

I agree with redledz, you don't necessarily have to choose between the incan or LED bandwagon because they are different tools for different jobs

I use my incan SF 9P running a P91 for anything outdoor because, just like you, I find that LEDs totally lack field of depth and vivid contrast (plus they just make the outdoor environment look down right spooky at night ). Considering picking up a Streamlight TL-3 just because it has an adjustable bezel and would make a cheap thrower with the prices on it's bulbs that low :twothumbs

 

[mmmflashlights]

Maybe the 'warm white' LEDs that are being discussed more and more will improve on the issues you bring up.

 

[Nitro]

I suspect in the future LED's will have the ability to produce any spectrum of light. Wouldn't it be cool to adjust the color rendition on the fly?

But until then, I'll be keeping my Incans for the outdoors.

 

[tygger]

If you have virtually unlimited access to spare batteries (or rechargeables) the choice between LEDs and high powered incans isn't so definitive. However, when weight, efficiency, and durability become important factors, there's really no comparison.

 

[TORCH_BOY]

I just dropped mine whilst it was on and the Bulb went

 

[peacefuljeffrey]

For me it's size and durability. For that, I go with LED all the way.

I'm not one of the more technical guys here, I don't know electronics real well and stuff (no engineering degree here). I also don't have scads of cash to blow collecting literally scores of flashlights.

For me, the quality of the light that comes from LEDs IS preferable. Maybe I'm not as discerning as some and that's why I feel that way; or maybe I just got lucky in that my tastes simply match what LED offers.

Years ago I broke too many Maglite filaments to make me willing to ever go back.

 

[Draz]

I love the warm cuddly look of a nice incan with a smooth as butter beam but I ventured to the land of LED for a good survival light (no blowing of bulbs and such) but I do agree with ya...LED's tend to make things like kinda funky. I love my incan Surefires and my LED ones, it sorta feels like im neglecting the other so I by both:naughty:

 

[Fallingwater]

I'm never getting off the LED bandwagon.
I had no interest whatsoever for flashlights before LEDs came along...
To me, the technology behind the incandescent bulb is old, boring and inefficient. Inbetween LEDs and cheap CCFLs I see no good reason to have incandescent bulbs anywhere anymore, and I'm proud of not having a single one of them in my home.

 

[mchlwise]

I'm never getting off the LED bandwagon.
I had no interest whatsoever for flashlights before LEDs came along...
To me, the technology behind the incandescent bulb is old, boring and inefficient. Inbetween LEDs and cheap CCFLs I see no good reason to have incandescent bulbs anywhere anymore, and I'm proud of not having a single one of them in my home.

While I still have a few incandescent bulbs in use in my house, I'm pretty much in agreement.

There ARE a few applications where an incandescent is still the best thing... like car headlights, or other applications where you need ridiculous brightness. But for the most part, newer technology is the way to go for me.

 

[cv3po]

I too love incans. For almost the entire ( until LED's came along ) history of human evolution our eyes adapted to.............the sun. What is closest to sunlight in spectrum and color temp..............the incan. So for most folks they just look "better" or "more natural". However, for most jobs all you need is white(ish) light and LED's provide more of it and for longer periods of time per battery than incans. I do and will continue to own both but I reach for an LED more often than not.

 

[kromeke]

Sterile beam is better than no beam (burned out incandescent). Solid state for me. No more replacing bulbs.

 

[ensile]

explore the different tints, my nicest night-time LED is a k2 unfortunately, but it really does give warmth, it's the warmest reddish tint on any of my led lights, but there is nice contrast on all of my warm white cree's...

good luck, I hope you can find some middle ground, LED cannot be beaten for work lights, trust me, get an efficient Cree based light, and you will be so glad that you did. If i want an outdoors spot light, i'd invest in HID, i've smashed so many incan globes in my time, led for me is a no brainer, I am that clumsy.

 

[BSCOTT1504]

I love the color and quality of the incan beam on my A2!! :thumbsup:

 

[c0t0d0s0]

LEDs suck for outdoor applications, it's a fact of life. Color temperature is not the whole story here. Even if the output appears white to the eye, their deficiency in certain areas of the spectrum is what's responsible for poor color rendering, low contrast, depth of field, etc...

That being said... Give warmer tints a try. My favorite LED light is a Gladius modded with a SSC USVOH emitter which is a warmer tint, a bit on a yellowish side. I found that it works well outdoors, and renders vegetation and all kinds of critters in it very nicely... obviously still not as good as an incandeschent, but much better than a WG tinted (pure white) Cree light with similar output. And it's dimmable down to 0.5 lumen, try that with an incandescent

 

[turkdc]

I will not be jumping off the bandwagon with you. I love my leds! There is definitely a time for incans (I keep my M4 devastator next to my bed to explore "bumps" in the night) but for edc and my thrice weekly nighttime walks it is solid state all the way.

 

[matthewdanger]

Best of both worlds: Surefire A2

The A2 is very easy on on bulbs so there is little chance of it burning out on you when you need it. Even if it does, you still have the LEDs for backup.

 

[FlashSpyJ]

My real interest in flashlights came when I discoverd the cree lights. They totally blowed me away! After a couple of diffrent leds, I ended up getting some Incans, SF incans! Modded my Mag Lite, and bought a SF A2 and a couple of other incans.

My latest light is a 9P, which I love!

For outdoor use I prefer incans because of the beam, but leds have alot of other qualitys that beats the incan. There really are no way to choose just one of them. I would bring an incan when going out, and always have a led as backup, more durable and more runtime. led light is better than no light...

Two things I would like to see in my incans are regulation and more shock proof features. the only regulated incan Ive got is the A2 (dont know of any others..plus its the only regulated SF incan, so not tough choice there! )

Im probably not going to buy more led lights before the next jump in evulation for the leds, either more brightness, or better color temperature.

The new L1 is tempting though...If they just can get it to work properly first...

over and out!